I’m a pretty online person. I have 4 planets in the 11th House. The 11th House is where we can find themes of technology, community, and the internet. My Sun, Venus, Mercury, and Jupiter all chilling in this dimension together. Ever since I was little, I wanted to share. I didn’t understand the Midwest landscape I was living in, built on repression and making yourself small. So I logged on. Whether it be making an AOL homepage, Xanga, Livejournal, MySpace, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Substack. I even liked hanging out in the Coca~Cola Sims game.
I can’t deny all the gifts, opportunities, and growth I’ve received from being active in the digital space. I often roll my eyes whenever someone says that social media is fake. I wondered if people who said that were faking it themselves. The obsession with having higher moral value because you look at your phone less than someone else is embarrassing.
I’ve heard more than once “people are only sharing the highlights”...you do have to make a selection? It is a space to curate. Approach with an artist’s perspective. Some people only want to share their vacation highlights or dinners with friends. Instagram hot girls working like high end fashion magazine editors, carefully selecting monthly dumps curated with the perfect amount of hot pics (always the first pic because of the algorithm and that's what you see first on main) and irreverent memes woven in that hint that they themselves are messes or goblins or some form of less. Some people's dare I say ~brand~ is crying on live and sharing their pain and trauma in a public way. We’re all crafting a digital persona. Our homepage, an avatar. Some are more earnest in pursuit, while others are meticulously designed. We all know when a celeb has zeroed out their posts online some sort of launch is coming. A signal of freedom, washing away the past. New era. We’re still learning the ebb and flow of what should live online forever and what stays for the moment.
Sometimes when I’m sad I do look back on my own Instagram or archived stories to remind myself: damn I’ve had some fun. Archiving exes as a meditation. I don’t post much about being estranged from most of my family, I don’t often speak on my father’s gambling addiction, I don’t talk about the sexual assaults I've experienced. I don’t talk about the day jobs I work that I fucking hate lol while maintaining my astrology business, I don’t talk about how one of my best friends and I broke up which resulted in our business closing. And how my other friends in that social circle asked me to never speak about it because it made them feel uncomfortable. Until now. Can I be mean for sec?
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You might be familiar with the question. It can be seen in the group chats, asked at the brunch table, and often depicted on TikTok. “Can I be mean for a sec?” is a permission to express what’s been bothering you, often about a particular person. Let me take us back into the astrology. We’ve been deep in Leo Venus Retrograde since July 22 and Venus, our planet of what we care about, will stay Retrograde til Sept 3. Our interests are in review! Where our hearts align is up for reflection! On top of that, we’re wrapping up Leo Szn tomorrow (more on that later) and friends, it's been a lot! You might have noticed a lot of the celebrity drama! Break ups! Lawsuits! Indictments! Spicy! Leo is a fire sign, Leo rules the heart and is led by the Sun. Leo the sign represents drama, theatrics, passion and MY GOD I really do miss classic, vintage fights. The anti-curation.
In 2023 confrontation involves a lot of therapy-speak, something that made quite big headlines when Sarah Brady released texts from Jonah Hill. No one wants to be a villain which is also resulting in no one being the hero either. I’m not advocating for pain, but so many of us are looking for something real. So I’m back to “can I be mean for a sec?” I NEED THAT. LET US ALL HAVE THE GRACE AND SPACE TO BE MEAN FOR A SEC. I grow tired of conversations that tip-toe around the feeling. I want my friends to know I don’t judge them for being angry, sad, or let down. So many disagreements are often misunderstandings, but expressing yourself while limiting that expression to what “a therapist would say” is not of service to the feelings at hand. We’ll probably learn much more from being mean for a sec than being repressed forever. Sometimes a mis-speak in a fight leads to a breakthrough in the heart of the matter! This therapy-speak self editing feels like a new version of perfectionism. I don’t want love and light, tell me what you want from me or just leave me be. I found myself coming back to this phrase often during Venus Retrograde: let me go.
A word I’ve been using often is: compatible. I’m less of a hot head in my older years lol and I love thinking about actual compatibility. This also comes up often in astrology and dating, yknow? ~are we compatible~ well sometimes you just need to give it a go and find out from experience. Maybe your Moon signs are horny for each other, but Mars and how you take action together might not be in flow. In recent friendship break ups I mentioned that we might not be compatible and that we should part. IT BLOWS PEOPLE'S MIND WHEN YOU DON'T ASK THEM TO CHANGE. And as I get older, I don’t need people to change. Just tell me who you are, so I can make the decisions with my time and energy as I’d like. That’s freedom, baby.
Shout out to my friend / editor Kalli who helped me best express my thoughts in this last section. Some texts we shared about it:
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WHAT’S UP WITH THE SKY RN
Today’s the last day of Leo season and tomorrow it’s onto Virgo time! And we’re starting out the first day of Virgo Season with a Mercury Retrograde! For more on Virgo Season as a whole listen to our latest What’s Your Sign? Episode all about it. Let’s focus on Mercury Retrograde.
Mercury will station Retrograde on 08/23/23 in the afternoon here on the West coast. Mercury, our planet that brings communication and information is in the sign of Virgo! It’s home here! Mercury rules over both Gemini (bite size info) and Virgo (longer form info) Mercury Retrogrades are the perception from Earth that the planet is moving backwards. Mercury Retrogrades are times where there can be snafus, hiccups, delays, and frustrations. It’s double check who you’re sending the text to, get your oil changed, make sure your passport isn’t expired before traveling, sort of shit. Mercury is going to stay Retrograde until September 15th, so we will have some overlap with Venus Retrograde until September 3rd. When we have two personal planets Retrograde this reminds us to take it easy and tread lightly, I’d recommend putting off making big decisions, signing contracts, or proposing new commitments until the Retrogrades pass. Of course, life happens, you have free will, choose wisely! Astrology is like the weather, we can let you know if it’s raining, but it’s your choice if you’re gonna pack an umbrella. To me, this applies to ~new~ ventures launched during Venus / Mercury Rx. This could be the time where projects or proposals started before the Retrogrades wrap themselves up!
Mercury Retrogrades are great for getting back to the drawing board. Virgo is an Earth sign, so maybe this is a time to connect with nature. Travel isn’t off the table! My rec for travel during this time is low lift. A quick road trip to a cabin to finish that book you’ve been meaning to. Visiting family because you have the down time. Since you know the weather, it’s working with the energy. If you have concert tickets for a show you really wanna go to, I wouldn’t rec flying in same day, it’s too risky! Give yourself the buffer space for any delays. Virgo is also a Mutable sign, they love a plan! But they also can update with the new information. They aren’t as stubborn as our other Earth signs, Taurus and Capricorn. Taurus won’t budge, while Capricorn can force, but Virgo knows when it’s time to hold ‘em and time to fold em. Virgo also rules over our digestive system aka the gut, so trust it! You might find in this Virgo season the answers to your questions are showing up in your body. What that gut do? Impart wisdom nbd.
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ASTROLOGY BOOKINGS
My calendar is updated for the rest of August and early September! CLICK TO BOOK HERE! For those of you who reached out to me about ASTROCARTOGRAPHY READINGS I will be launching those come MID/END OF OCT! So stay tuned here on the newsletter :) There will be it’s own unique booking link for those!
Reminder about astrocartography readings from previous newsletter:
I’m looking for folks who are interested in being some of my first clients as I test out offering astrocartography readings.
Astrocartography, also known as locational astrology, uses your natal chart in a way to find which parts of the world are best aligned for various activities/events. We can see what parts of the globe may be great for romance, business ventures, or even moving! I’m sure I’ll get some sort of official form going for those interested, but for now if you are interested in getting an astrocartography reading email me: stevie@stevies.world
If you already emailed me about astrocartography readings, please do not email again! I got it! :) And I’ll be reaching back out in October.
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WHAT I’M DIGGING
And Just Like That… (HBO Max) - This show is terrible. Thank god it was renewed for another season. Don’t change AJLT!!!!! Your cringe gives me so much joy.
Barbie dir. Greta Gerwig - C’mon Barbie lets go party. Last newsletter was pre-Barbie and it really felt like it. There is BB (Before Barbie) and AB (After Barbie) - I’m being cheeky, but Barbie did rock. I was hoping Barbie had some of the camp, having fun at the theater energy like an Austin Powers, while doing the movie about a known entity like The Brady Bunch Movies and…it did! It was fucking good! The soundtrack slaps! I liked dressing up! Greeting everyone with a “Hi, Barbie” was soothing.
Ween - Ween is a weird ass band that’s always been around in my mind. I was a teenage hippie raver and Ween floated in the both the jam band and alt rock worlds. I went on a whim and saw them at the Greek theater and it was the best live show I’ve ever seen. It was fucking cool to see two friends who were SO STOKED on their own music. They have written some of the most beautiful and heinous songs of all time lol. They’ve even admitted some of their music is unlistenable. They pay homage so many genres. Their song Gabrielle is them doing Thin Lizzy better than Thin Lizzy. I made a playlist from my show at The Greek. Check it out?
Blue Lizard sunscreen - It’s full blown SoCal summer, the time of year where I’m trying to be in the pool or at the beach as much as possible. When I’m sitting out for hours on end, I need the heavy hitting stuff and I’ve fully become a zinc based sunscreen freak. Now, zinc is white cast-y, it just is! That’s zinc! But the Blue Lizard sunscreen is the easiest to apply and the least cast-y from what I’ve tried so far.
Telemarketers (HBO Max) - This 3-part doc, exec produced by the Safdie brothers, is…just perfection. My biggest gripe in this bleak TV era is how many rushed out, shitty doc series there’s been lately. I get it! They’re cheaper to make! But Telemarketers is the result of decades of filming, a buddy comedy set in the inner, twisted world of the telemarketing industry, which I couldn’t believe was even MORE fucked up than first impression. Like…just watch it. Legendary doc series. The first 2 eps are out and the finale airs this coming Sunday.
Doing nothing - speaks for itself. When it’s not dramatic as all hell, Leo season has been sleepy!!!! I’m doing as the lions do: resting, grooming, I’ll get up and hunt at the peak hours, sunrise and sunset, bb. Wake me when it’s Libra szn!
The Creative Act: A Way of Being by Rick Rubin - Legendary music producer Rick Rubin has written a book that every artist should keep on the shelf. Like Rick’s laid back, vibe-centric style, it’s a book where you can turn to any chapter and get some nuggets of wisdom about the artist’s process. Rick (Pisces Sun, Virgo Moon btw) has perspectives on when to follow certain creative rules and when to lose them. There’s a mixture of discipline and rebellion, and his insights on when those can be best expressed. Plus, the font is huge lol very easy read.
I’ll see you in your chart readings, thank you for subscribing to Stevie’s Email Energy, it’s a privilege to share with you.
Logging off ttyl xo Stevie
i hate you fat lizzo